ADVANCED LEVEL HISTORY PRACTICE QUESTIONS

FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789-1799

1. Why were the successive governments of France between 1789 and 1799 so short-
lived?
2. How far was the financial crisis responsible for the outbreak of the French Revolution?
3. Which groups suffered and which groups benefited from the changes of social structure
of France between 1789 and 1799?
4. How far was Louis responsible for the failure of moderate reforms in France to 1793?
5. How and with what results did the Civil Constitution of the Clergy constitute a turning
point in support base of the Revolutionaries?
6. How valid is the claim that the Directory was the most successful Revolutionary
government in France between 1789 and 1799?
7. How successful were revolutionaries in solving the problems they faced from 1789 to
1799?
8. “A protest against the King’s failure to implement reform.” Consider this view of the
outbreak of French Revolution
9. How important was the influence of the clubs in Paris on the course of the French
Revolution?
10. Why was the moderate government of the Directory unable to survive?
11. Asses the contribution of the Reign of Terror in saving the Revolution from the forces of
reaction both inside outside France?
12. “The revolt of 1789 was against a government which was tyrannical, inefficient and
insensitive to the needs of the people”. Do you agree?
13. Examine the role of the Paris mob in the French Revolution.
14. How far and by what means, were the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity achieved
in Revolutionary France in the years 1789 up to 1799?
15. Why and with success, did France engage in war with Europe between 1792 and 1795?
16. To what extent was Louis XV1 responsible for his execution in 1793?
17. Why did Louis XV1 convene the Estates General in 1789 and why did it fail to solve his
problems?
18. How far is the influence of the ‘Philosophers’ apparent in the aims and policies of the
French revolutionary leaders between 1789 and 1794?
19. Why, and with what justification, did the continental European rulers fear the effects of
the French revolution between 1791 and 1801?
20. How far were the autocratic regimes of other states endangered by the spread of the
revolutionary ideas from France during the years 1789 to 1815?
21. In what ways, and for and for what reasons, did the aims of the revolutionaries in France
change in the years from 1789 to 1792?

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 22. Why did the ‘moderate Revolution’ of 1789 in France not succeed in meeting the
demands of the discontented?
23. Why was Louis XV1 unable to satisfy the grievances of the discontented groups in
France during the period 1789-1793?
24. How serious were the threats to the French revolution were presented by its enemies,
both eternal and external during the period 1789 to 1799?
25. In what ways and for what reasons did the aims of the revolutionaries in France change
in the years from 1789 to 1793?
26. How far was discontent among the peasants responsible for the outbreak of the French
revolution?
27. “The Reign of Terror was a necessary evil” Discuss.
28. To what extent did the American war of independence lead to the outbreak of the
French Revolution?
29. How important was war in the progress of the French Revolution between 1789 and
1794.
30. Why, by 1799, had the Directory failed to sustain the moderate government which had
come to power in 1789?
31. To what extent was the nobility in France responsible for the failure moderate reforms
up to 1793?
32. How important was the role played by the Third Estate in the French Revolution up to
1793?
33. ”The fear that France wanted to export its Revolution was unjustified” Discuss this view
of French foreign policy from 1789 -1799.
34. Which did more to preserve the ideas of the Revolution, the Jacobins or the Directory?
35. To what extent can it be argued that the character of Louis xvi was the major cause of
the crisis of 1789 in France?
36. How valid is the view that the Directory was the most successful Revolutionary
government?
37. What contributed most to the crisis of 1789 in France, an incompetent King, ambitious
nobility or poor harvests?
38. Why and with what results to 1794, was Louis XV1 eventually overthrown?
39. Examine the contribution of the San-culottes in the French Revolution.
40. What had the French Revolution achieved by 1799?
41. “The Directory government committed suicide” How accurate is this view of the
downfall of the Directory Government?
42. What can be learned from the Directory (1795-1799) about the achievements and
problems of the revolution in France?
43. How accurate is the view that the Directory added nothing to the achievements of
French Revolution?

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 44. Why did the long-standing problems of the ancient regime in France become more
acute in 1789?
45. How far can the outbreak of the French Revolution be explained by political factors?
46. “A turning point in the history of the Revolution”. Discuss this view of the consequences
for France of Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes
47. How far was the enlightenment ideas responsible for the outbreak of the French
Revolution in 1789?
48. Why, and with results, did the French revolutionaries become progressively radical
between 1789 and 1794?
49. Why, and with what consequences, did the rest of Europe react to the events to the
developments in France between 1789 and 1794?
50. Why did the financial problems of the French monarchy worsen under Louis XVI?

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